


a song of fighting (resisting fate until the end)

by Seito



Category: Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Crack, Friendship, Gen, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-30
Updated: 2019-02-01
Packaged: 2019-07-20 16:11:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16140806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Seito/pseuds/Seito
Summary: “Oh? You like my ribbon? I’m sorry, dear. I can’t give it to you.”At six months old, Noctis couldn’t really understand what she was saying. But he was old enough to understand that there was something negative about her words.“Shhh. Don’t cry.”Noctis felt a warmth on the top of his head, a phantom touch of something not quite there.He sniffled, still not happy with not getting the thing he really wanted.“There, there,” the voice continued, warmth and gentle. “How about I tell you a story about a flower girl and the silly boy who fell through the roof?”Noctis blinked up at her. There, Aerith Gainsborough smiled, glowing in the soft sunlight, transparent and ethereal.(or AU where Aerith fixes everything)





	1. Chapter 1

Noctis scrunched his face, tiny hands reaching out. 

“Careful, little one,” a soft voice called out to him. 

He wanted the pretty thing! Noctis reached out again. It was bright!

“Oh? You like my ribbon? I’m sorry, dear. I can’t give it to you.” 

At six months old, Noctis couldn’t really understand what she was saying. But he was old enough to understand that there was something negative about her words. 

“Shhh. Don’t cry.” 

Noctis felt a warmth on the top of his head, a phantom touch of something not quite there. 

He sniffled, still not happy with not getting the thing he really wanted. 

“There, there,” the voice continued, warmth and gentle. “How about I tell you a story about a flower girl and the silly boy who fell through the roof?”

Noctis blinked up at her. There, Aerith Gainsborough smiled, glowing in the soft sunlight, transparent and ethereal. 

-.-.-

Magic, Regis knew was a wonderful and dangerous thing. And Noctis was determined to make him gray haired before Noctis turned five. Normally, in their family line, magic only manifested in their teens years and usually have a long ‘chat’ with the Crystal. There was usually some ambivalent magic; Regis recalled his father telling him that Regis had managed to summon his stuffed animals to him across the room when he was child. 

But Noctis had be different. 

Namely, elements. Regis had a near heart attack the first time Noctis summoned a rain cloud in the room. Everything gotten soaked. Regis himself had been dripping wet. Noctis had to be moved to another room to dry out this one. 

Thankfully it was just water. Regis would have have a heart attack if it was fire or thunder. The water was probably a blizzard that wasn’t freezing properly. 

Now if he could only get his two year old son to stop soaking him. 

-.-.-

“You need to lighten up, kid.” 

Ignis jumped, reaching for Noctis and eyes darting around. He may be young, but he was going to protect his Prince! 

Noctis, three years old and still precious, simply grabbed Ignis’ hand. “Don’t worry, that’s Yuffie.” 

Ignis jumped as a girl with black hair appeared in front of them, transparent and lightly glowing. 

“Can you even use that?” Yuffie teased, pointing to the dagger Ignis was clutching. 

“O-of course!” Ignis said with bravado. It wasn’t a complete lie. He could use the dagger and not hurt himself. He just wasn’t… very good at it. It wasn’t a very sharp dagger either. 

“Come now, squirt,” Yuffie teased. “Let the Treasure Princess teach you how to hit any target from any angle. You’ll be so amazing, I can feel it!” 

-.-.-

“I don’t know how to put this, Your Majesty,” Doctor Medella said with a nervous lilt. 

“Just tell me how bad it is,” Regis said with a heavy heart. He knew the price of supplying magic to the Wall, watched his father waste away. The burden was going to kill him, at an even younger age than his father. He showed started showing signs of deterioration shortly after Noctis was born and was still in the process of making peace with the fact that he would barely live to see his son fully grown. 

“You’re healthy,” Medella said. “In fact, you’re healthier than you were two years ago. All the signs of deterioration you had begun showing four years ago was born are gone.” 

Regis stared at her, jaw slacked. He had known Medella for years now. She had been his primary doctor for the last decade or so. Straight to the point and blunt were the reasons why he liked her. (He didn’t need anyone dancing around the issue. There were enough politics and careful words everywhere else in his life.) 

“What?” Regis said. 

He had thought it had been getting easier to breath and the pain in his knee wasn’t bothering much these days. But to be completely healed.

“We don’t know what’s causing it,” Medella said, bewildered. “Believe me, we’ve been running tests for the past two years and had been waiting to see how long it would last, except you kept getting better.” 

That was impossible. Regis felt, still felt, the drain of the Crystal. He should be paying with his life force. 

“Have you been using the Crystal to heal yourself?” Medella asked. 

“No,” Regis said. 

Medella just nodded, jolting down on her chart. “Right, just needed to ask. We’re worried that it’s accelerating your natural healing, much like other curatives, except that doesn’t seem to be the case either. In fact, it’s a bit like Oracle healing. No cost to person getting the healing.” 

“I haven’t seen Sylva in years,” Regis said. 

“Hence our confusion,” Medella said. 

She shook her head. “I don’t know what to tell you, Your Majesty. You still need to watch your cholesterol, whatever healing you’re getting, it’s not fixing that. But physically? You’re as good as any other thirty three year old male.” 

Regis felt his head spin. He was healthy? 

-.-.-

“How are things going Noctis?” Regis asked.

Noctis beamed and held up the picture he was doodling. “Almost done!” he proudly proclaimed. 

Regis smiled, ruffling Noctis’ hair. “You’re getting better,” he said. It was true, instead of miscellaneous blobs, Noctis’ people were starting to look vaguely human shape. 

The knock on his office door shattered the mood. Regis tried hard not feel disappointed. Time with Noctis was already far too limited in his option. Getting Noctis to sit and quietly draw while Regis worked would not be something that Regis would be able to do once Noctis was older. 

“Come in,” Regis said. 

The door creaked open and Cor stood in the doorway. “Sorry to interrupt.” 

“Uncle Cor!” Noctis said, waving. 

Cor gave him a tired smile. “Hello Noctis.” 

“You’re hurt,” Regis said quietly. Cor’s shirt was halfway open, thick bandages wrapped around his chest, and the hint of red starting to bleed through them. 

“It was a little rough coming back,” Cor said. “The doctors already patched me up. I’m just here to drop off my report and I’m heading back to my apartment to sleep.” He handed Regis the folder. 

“Get some rest,” Regis said. 

A bucket full of water splashed on them. 

“It’s a good thing I made copies of my report,” Cor said with gritted teeth. 

Wise lesson learned. Even two years later, no matter how many scoldings Regis dished out, Noctis continued his trend of soaking him with water. 

“Noctis!” Regis turned, scolding. 

Noctis stared up at him with wide eyes. “Uncle Cor is hurt.” 

“Yes that’s why we don’t splash people with water.” 

“But water helps,” Noctis protested. 

Regis sighed. No, water and wounds made things worse. He opened his mouth to scold Noctis, ready to ground his cheeky son when Cor reached out to stop him.

“Wait,” Cor said, eyes narrowing. “Nothing hurts anymore.” 

Regis stared at him, baffled. What? He looked at Noctis who was fiercely scowling. (It was terribly adorable in Regis’ mind.) 

“Let’s get you the infirmary,” Regis said instead. The bandages had to be changed at the minimum. 

Cor nodded in agreement. 

Regis picked up Noctis who just pouted but let himself be carried to the infirmary. 

“Marshall” Doctor Medella shouted, throwing her hands up as she took one look at the soaked Cor and Regis. “It hasn’t even been five minutes since I let you go!”

“Prince Noctis decided to give me a welcome soak,” Cor said dryly. 

“Oh did he?” Medella said, turning to look at Noctis, hands on her hips and disapproval written on her face. 

Noctis let out an eep and buried his face into the crook of Regis’ neck. “Water helps,” he said perpetually. 

Medella threw up her hands once more and made Cor side, fishing out more bandages from the drawer. Cor unbuttoned his shirt, shrugging it off. Medella unwound the wet bandages.

“What the hell,” Medella said as the last of the bandages fell away. She reached out to touch Cor’s skin, smooth and without a single sign of a bleeding wound. “I just bandaged you up five minutes ago. You had three six inch cuts from a coreul!” 

“Noctis,” Regis said. 

Noctis pulled away from Regis’ neck, looking glum. “Am I in trouble?” 

Regis shook his head. “No, but when did you learn to make healcast with your water?” Healing with magic should be something beyond Noctis’ ability. Plus, that kind spellcrafting was exhausting and Noctis showed no signs of magical drain. 

“Aerith called it Great Gospel,” Noctis said. “She showed me.”

Regis raised and eyebrow. Aerith was one of the many imaginary friends Noctis had. There was a whole cast. He had hoped by introducing Ignis to Noctis, his son wouldn’t feel so lonely. Instead, Ignis seemed to indulge in Noctis’ imaginary friends, often citing his improvement with his daggers to be because of Yuffie, another imaginary friend of Noctis. 

Wait. Noctis had been soaking him with water for the last two years. Medella said he had been steadily improving over the last two years. 

“Noctis, have you been healing me with your water?” Regis said, stupefied. 

Noctis nodded. “Aerith said holding up the Wall hurts you and the water would make you feel better.” 

An imaginary friend told him this? 

Did he overlook a staff member? But who would even be so knowledgeable magic? He shared a look with Cor who simply nodded. Cor would look in to see if there was any mention of Aerith that Regis had overlooked. 

“Noctis, I don’t want you using, what did you call it, Great Gospel, until I say it’s okay to use it, all right?” Regis said. He would go over the family records. Regis was good with basic elemental spells, but more complicated crafts he never grasped. Maybe Noctis had accidentally accessed an old branch of their magic. 

Plus stasis wasn’t a good feeling to have so young and Regis wanted to make sure Noctis wasn’t doing anything to stunt his growth. 

“But-” Noctis said, pouting. 

“Please, Noctis,” Regis pleaded. He didn’t want his son pushing his magic, not this young. There was a reason why they didn’t gain full access until they were closer to being done growing.

Noctis just scowled fiercely but nodded. 

(A month later, Regis had woken up in pain and Noctis broke that promise and soaked him immediately. Regis resigned himself to being soaked constantly. This was going to be ongoing mystery since both Cor and Regis hadn’t found anything.) 

-.-.-

Noctis was five when Regis finally figured out who Aerith was. 

It had started off a quiet morning, until the tug of the Ring pulled him into that shiny blue world that held his ancestors. 

There looming over him the Founder King peered down. “It is time,” The Mystic said. “The Chosen King has arrived. Your son, Noctis Lucis Caelum is the one we have waited for.” 

Regis felt fear grip his heart. No. He knew the prophecy, the words passed down through their line. No. Not his son. 

“No.” 

Regis felt his breath taken away as Bahamut manifested, larger than the kings of lore, standing ever so tall. Relief filled his heart. If Bahamut had said no, Noctis could be spared. 

“Lord Bahamut,” The Mystic said, “You said the young boy was the King of Light.” 

“The Cetra tainted him, like she did with the Accursed One. The Crystal will not accept him,” Bahamut said, voice rumbling. 

“Taint? You make me sound like I’m Jenova, Bahamut.” 

Regis turned as a young woman dressed in pink appeared by his side. Her expression was friendly, a soft gentle smile adorned on her face. Her long brown hair was braided, a red ribbon holding it place. 

“Who?” Regis asked. He had never seen her before.

“I am Aerith Gainsborough,” she introduced herself with a smile. 

Aerith? As in Noctis’ imaginary friend Aerith? What was she doing to his son? 

“You have no right,” Bahamut said. 

“You don’t either, Bahamut,” Aerith said, a coldness creeping into her tone of voice. “Minerva is dead, and our planet’s lifeblood you crystalized. The mighty summon, broke free from his materia. It was the fighting between you and the others that summoned back Jenova.” 

“Enough!” Bahamut roared, swinging his swords.

The kings of lore scattered and Regis made an attempt to defend the young woman. Aerith calmly summoned a staff and parry Bahamut’s swinging sword. 

Regis swallowed hard. He had no idea what was going on, but it felt like he was witnessing a battle between two Astrals. 

“He will never be the Chosen King. will never gain the Crystal’s magic,” Bahamut snarled. 

Aerith smiled coyly. “That is fine. I will teach him how we Gaians fight.” 

She turned, white flower petals swirling, thicker and thicker, until they fell away and Regis found himself standing in a flower field. 

“What…?” 

Aerith chuckled. “I beg your pardon. I didn’t mean for it to get so heated.”

“I don’t understand,” Regis said. His son was… not(?) the Chosen King. Which was a good thing because that meant Noctis didn’t have to die. But Bahamut had mentioned that Cetra (Aerith?) was tainting his son which was troubling. 

“It is a long story,” Aerith said. “And it’s been a long time that no one in living memory remembers it.” 

“Are you tainting my son?” Regis asked. That was the important thing.

“No,” Aerith said. 

“But you are his imaginary friend, Aerith?” Regis asked. 

She smiled. “Yes. Though not so imaginary.” 

“Then why…?” Regis started. 

“The one called Accursed One in the prophecy, your ancestor, Ardyn Lucis Caelum,” Aerith said with a sad smile, “I was the one who taught him how to heal. The Healer, elder brother to one you call The Founder King. He wanted desperately to help, asked repeatedly how to heal and the ones you call Astrals requested my help. I taught him, but Bahamut whispered into his ear that it would be better to absorb instead of banish.

“So when finally Ardyn absorbed all he could, never realizing the Starscourge he absorbed was poison to his own soul and the Astrals stopped his soul for reaching the Beyond and the taint was too much for me to heal on my own. He spurred them for denying his final rest and had spent the last 2000 years plotting revenge. And so arises the prophecy of the Chosen King and the price he must pay to fix Bahamut’s mistake.” 

Regis stared at her, mentally reeling. He knew none of that. His… ancestor was the Accursed One? There was never any mention in their family history of a Healer. And the Accursed One, the fault laid with the Astrals?

Aerith laughed lightly. “Once upon a time the Astrals were merely summons, powerful creatures who could be called by someone with enough magic. They were fickle about their summoners, creatures of war and fighting. They are not gods. They are not omnipotent, or omniscient. They hold little love for humans and cannot admit they made a mistake.” 

“But you are?” Regis asked. 

“No,” Aerith said. “Once upon a time, I was just like you, a person who walked under the starry sky, lived and breathed and died. The only difference was I was only half human. I am the last of the Cetra, a race that could use the Planet’s voice, intune with nature and magic.” 

“You’re older than the Astrals?” Regis asked. His mind was spinning. The whole thing sounded like blasphemy to him. 

“Yes and no,” Aerith said, amused. “I’m older than your concept of Astrals. Older than your Ancient Era, and Solheim. However, when I was born, Bahamut existed. But as a summon only, not a god. The Bahamut today is a very different Bahamut that I remember.” 

“This is a lot to take in,” Regis admitted. Forgetting any sense of propriety, he took a seat on the ground, surrounded around by the flowers. He reached out to stroke the petals. Lilies. Aulea’s favorite flower. 

Aerith took a seat next to him. “Take your time. I will do my best to answer you.”

“Noctis… won’t be the Chosen King?” Regis asked, trying to clarify. 

“Bahamut said so,” Aerith said. “But I think it’s better given the prophecy.” 

Regis sagged with relief. It was. “Thank you,” he said honestly. Anything to spare his son that burden. 

“Bahamut also said the Crystal would reject him,” Aerith said. “Some of it won’t matter, it’s too tied to your bloodline that with or without the Crystal, Noctis will gain the ability. I’m fairly certain this is the case for amiger. The Ring will be probably reject him though.” 

Regis rubbed the Ring. “That’s fine. I don’t know what it’ll mean for the war, but the burden of Wall is something I never wanted to place on Noctis.” 

Aerith smiled. “Do let him keep healing you. I promise you, it’s safe.”

“Ah, yes. He mentioned you taught him that Healing Water,” Regis said. “He’s been very proud of it. Thank you.”

“It was nothing,” Aerith said. “You should know, we will continue teaching Noctis and whatever friends he makes who are willing to learn.” 

“Ah, like a Yuffie Ignis has mentioned,” Regis said. That certainly explained another mystery surrounding Noctis. 

Aerith nodded. “Yes. They are dear friends of mines. None of us have moved on for a various reasons and I’m thankful for the company. I promise you, Regis. Noctis will not go defendless.” 

“Thank you,” Regis said, bowing his head. As a King it was selfish to think like this, but as a father it was all he could ask for. 

“And I see why your title is The Father,” Aerith said wistfully. “It is good to know you love Noctis so dearly.” 

She smiled. “Surely that isn’t the only questions you have for me?”

Regis stopped to think about it. He had a million questions to ask, but there was only so much his brain could handle. “If Noctis isn’t the Chosen King and the prophecy will not come to pass, what is going to happen to the world because of it? Will we see the end, with no hope, no way of fixing the issue at hand?”

“The prophecy said that Accursed One will bring forth an endless night,” Aerith said. “That may still come to pass. I do not possess the ability to see the future. I am not a goddess. Perhaps it was selfish to interfere with Bahamut’s prophecy, a surefire way to fix the issue at hand. But…

She trailed off, looking off into the distance. 

“But?” Regis asked. 

“This is not the first time we have faced the Starscourge before,” Aerith said, absentmindedly. 

“What? But then how did you beat it?” Regis asked, eyes wide. “Can it be repeated?” Daemons were an endless thorn in his side. It wasn’t safe to travel at night. Hadn’t been for years. Centuries really. Starscourge had been a plague on the land for years. 

“It wasn’t always called Starscourge,” Aerith said. Her expression twisted and turned bitterly tight. “Once upon a time it was called Jenova, the Calamity of the Skies. She was a parasite, a world eater, that came from the stars, landing on our planet and setting up to destroy everything in sight.” 

“The Planet responded to the threat by creating WEAPONS but they were never used for the Cetra got to Jenova first and sealed her away, at the cost of majority of their race.” She looked so solemn, mourning for an event that Regis had never heard of before. 

“Jenova slumbered for years, until a group of scientists discovered her in the crater which she was sealed in,” Aerith said. “And then grand delusion of power filled their heads. By that point, most of the lore had been lost and they thought they had discovered a Cetra. They were wrong.

“They went on to create more experiments, spreading Jenova’s taint, using her cells to create a group of warriors, SOLDIERS who were stronger, faster than anyone else. To fight wars and win battles. The best of them all, their General was a man called Sephiroth.

“He was peerless, powerful. Conquering nations when he was but a child. Created, not out of love, but war and madness. His story is a sad one. A tragedy that unfolded. Eventually he broke under the weight of it all, and Jenova preyed on his mind. ‘Mother’ he called her, warped under the delusion that he was her son. 

“For countless times for the years to come, Jenova moved through him, like a puppet master tugging strings and trying to achieve her goal of consuming the Planet. 

“Eventually a group raised up. They had different goals, different reasoning first. They hadn’t set out to stop Sephiroth, it was something that just happened as they uncover the truth and stopped him they did, and every time after that.” Aerith said. 

She looked at him, both so weary and proud. “That group was my friends. I traveled with them, saw the world instead of fearing the sky. They taught me much, and helping them was the least I could do. But it was an echo of Sephiroth who drove a sword through my chest, killing me on the spot. They thought they lost me, but a Cetra doesn’t always dissolve into the Lifestream. We can always talk to them from beyond.” 

A wry smile twisted on her face. “It is not unlike your Ring of Lucii, but it far more benevolent. It is always a choice with us,” Aerith said. “My birth mother, I do not remember much of her, but she had only stayed by my side in the Lifestream for a few decades before she moved on, joining back into the cycle.” 

Regis sat quietly, absorbing the story. It was tragic and clearly just the tip of the iceberg. It was interesting to know the Starscourge was original parasite from another planet, so long ago. It did match up with the Cosmology; the story that it had come with the comet that Titan was holding up. Perhaps the one grain of truth that had survived over the years? 

“Lifestream?” he asked instead. The only term he hadn’t recognized from her tale. 

“Lifestream is the Planet’s lifeblood,” Aerith explained. “It is a cycle. Everything born is from the Lifestream, everything that dies returns to the Lifestream. It used to be visible; a soft green light that would light up the sky sometimes. Mako was the liquid form that could be found everywhere. Materia were crystalized Mako, given shape and magical abilities.

Here, she turned angry, a fire crackling in her green eyes. “The Crystal, the one you protect, the one Bahamut calls the heart of our star, is last remnant of Lifestream.” 

Regis was once again sent reeling. What was his family tasked to protect? 

Aerith reached out to pat his hand. “Perhaps it was for the best. Your family has done well to protecting it. I’ll tell you another story one day, about the company that tried so hard to harness Mako for themselves and nearly killed the Planet doing so.” 

Regis rubbed his forehead. Everything he knew about his family history, the world history had been turned upside down. 

“I think that’s it for today,” Aerith announced. “Don’t worry, now that you know I exist, you will probably be able to see me when I visit Noctis.” 

Before Regis could say anything, the flower field faded away from view and he found himself back in his office, alone. 

He glanced down at the Ring of Lucii and pulled it off, placing it in his jacket pocket. He would deal with them later. Right now, he going to cancel all his meetings today and spend it with Noctis, no matter how much Clarus complained otherwise. 

-.-.-

Clarus was keeping an open mind. He was really. Regis was a regular troll, but this was a serious enough issue that Clarus didn’t think this was a simple prank. 

So Noctis’ imaginary friends were real, everything they knew about the Lucis Caelum line was sanitised and scrubbed clean of the truth, and Noctis was not the Chosen King by decree of Bahamut himself (who was not even an actual God.) 

“You look like you could use a drink.” 

Clarus pinched the bridge of his nose. “Yes.” 

He froze as he registered that it wasn’t a familiar voice that said that to him. 

There a man in a blue suit gave him a small wave. A _transparent_ man. A _transparent, glowing_ man. 

“Reeve!” 

Noctis came running down the hallway. He skidded to a stop, looking at Clarus brightly. “Uncle Clarus!” 

“Ready for your lesson, Noctis?” Reeve asked, bending down to Noctis’ level. 

Noctis let out a dramatic groan that he clearly inherited from his father. “Do I have to?” he asked, pouting. 

“The sooner you finish your letters, the sooner Yuffie will teach you and Ignis a neat trick with your daggers,” Reeve said, casually bribed Noctis.

Noctis lit up. “Okay!” He waved buy to Clarus. “Bye Uncle Clarus.” 

Reeve smirked, waving goodbye as well, following after Noctis. 

Clarus just stood there, jaw slacked. Fuck. He owned Regis a drink now. 

-.-.-

Ardyn was so close. Finally, after 2000 years he had felt the King of Light, the one chosen by the prophecy being born. Noctis Lucis Caelum, five years old and so innocent, not even aware that he was the chosen lamb to slaughter. 

The sky opened up and rain fell. He hissed, feeling the burn, the warmth of a long forgotten gift. 

“Still plotting your revenge, I see.”

Ardyn turned, snarling. “Aerith Gainsborough. Have you finally come to mock me? After ignoring me for all these centuries,” he said, giving her a mocking bow.

Aerith gave him a sad smile, full of pity. “I’ve visited you many times, Ardyn,” she said pained. “You have always chosen to forget them.” 

“Lies,” Ardyn hissed. Once he had trusted her. She was his teacher. Until like the Astrals, she had spurred him. He had begged, pleaded and yet she had never come- 

No.

Wait.

That wasn’t right. 

Wasn’t it?

His head ached, throbbing with pain. A sharp hiss in his mind, echoed. 

Aerith reached out. She cupped Ardyn’s face, hands glowing bright white. “Pulse of Light,” she whispered. 

Warmth. A bright familiar warmth. Pain gone and Ardyn realized he had been screaming non-stop for the last few minutes. His throat was raw, memories clearer. “A-Aerith,” he said hoarse. 

She hadn’t abandoned him. She-

The pain flared. 

The warmth washed over him again. This time fingers threading through his hair. His eyes droop, exhaustion pressing down on him. He was so tired of this, so tired. He wanted this to end, wanted this warmth to remain. Want to remember that the teacher who had taught him so much was still here.

(But deep down he knew he wouldn’t remember.) 


	2. Chapter 2

Gladio grunted, trying lift his sword.

“You’re going to hurt yourself like that.”

Gladio looked around. There, a man with spiky black hair grinned at him.

“You’re kinda too small to be handling a broadsword like that,” he said. “How old are you kid? Seven? Eight?”

Gladio scowled harder. “What do you know?”

The man’s grin spread wider. Then out of nowhere, a sword as big and as wide as him materialized, and he gave it a swung, once, twice before sheathing it on his back. “Cause I know a thing or two about wielding blades as big as me.”

Gladio’s jaw fell open as he stared at the strange man. “How!” he demanded to know.

The man laughed. “I’m Zack. Let me teach the way of the Buster Sword, kid.”

-.-.-

There was distinct hum of magic in the air. Regis warily entered Noctis’ bedroom and nearly tripped over a green orb.

“What?” Regis said. There wasn’t just one green orb, but in fact, many. They rolled across the ground, like a big game of marbles.

“Just in time Regis!”

Regis blinked as Aerith materialized next to him.

“Dad!” Noctis came running up to Regis, Ignis following behind. He held up one of the green orbs. “Look at what Aerith gave me!”

“How pretty,” Regis said. They were very pretty. Green hues seem to get darker inside the glass. Oh, now that he probed it, these were the source of magic he was feeling. Interesting. “What are they?”

“We call them Materia,” Aerith said. “The knowledge and wisdom of the Cetra is held in the materia. Anyone with this knowledge can freely use the powers of the land and the Planet. That knowledge interacts between ourselves and the planet calling up magic.”

She smiled wistfully. “Once the Planet, Eos, would have created these things naturally. Materia are crystalized form of Mako, the Lifestream of our planet. But since Bahamut had turned the Lifestream into the Crystal, one giant Materia in a sense, Materia can no longer be found in nature.”

“Then…?” Regis asked, trailing off.

“I brought them forth,” Aerith said. “They used to be the materia we carried with us. Yuffie grumbled, she’s very protective of her materia, but I figured it would be best to teach the boys how to use them.”

“Ignis too?” Regis asked.

Aerith smiled. She walked over to a green orb by the table and pointed to it. “Ignis, come and tell me which materia is this one?”

Ignis blinked and picked it up. “Barrier?” he asked.

“Good job!” Aerith said with a smile. “Now why don’t you show King Regis what I taught you and Noctis earlier this morning?”

Ignis concentrated and Regis felt a rush of magic as a thin, transparent barrier formed between him and Ignis.

Regis stared, wrapping his mind around the implication. Ignis with no connection to the Crystal was performing magic.

Oh. Regis recalled what she had said explained to him a year ago about Lifestream. He was struck with empathy. Had Bahamut not created the Crystal, would there be more magic users than just the Lucis Caelum and Nox Fleuret families? How different might the world be.

He reached out to touch the barrier and it crumbled, shattering like glass.

“Oh,” Ignis said, disappointed.

“Don’t worry Ignis. As you practice more, the stronger it’ll get,” Aerith said.

“My turn!” Noctis said.

Regis felt another rush of magic before a sharp cold breeze hit. There on the ground was a small patch of ice, rapidly melting.

“Ice,” Aerith said cheerfully. “Good job, Noctis. Now why don’t you and Ignis find which one of these materia is Cure?”

The two of them scrambled off, picking up and putting down green orbs.

“Match Match with materia,” Aerith explained. “All materia look the same, so the ability to identify which one is which is valuable.”

“I hope you’re limiting the actual amount of magic casting in the future,” Regis said. “At least not indoors.”

Aerith laughed. “Of course. We wouldn’t want the boys to blow themselves up.”

“Please.”

-.-.-

Prompto was six going on seven and he had a small problem that was far beyond the scope that a six year old could handle.

Correction, it was a big problem.

Namely, a rust colored large cat was sleeping on his bed.

Prompto didn’t even know how he got there! He made sure to lock the house when he left for school this morning.

“You’re small.”

The cat talked!!!

-And small? Prompto was pretty sure he was actually very chubby.

The cat stood, stretching. “I’m Nanaki,” he said. “Will you come with me?”

“To where?” Prompto asked.

“The Citadel. For magic lessons.”

Magic… lessons? The Citadel?

“Why me?” Prompto asked. He wasn’t anyone special. And magic? Wasn’t that what the King and Prince had? Why Prompto of all people?

“Aerith said so.”

Who was Aerith?

Nanaki merely looked at him patiently. Prompto hesitated. He really shouldn’t. You weren’t supposed to go anywhere with strangers.

But…

But there was something that felt just right. Like a little nudge.

“Okay,” Prompto said.

“Then climb on.”

-.-.-

“Sir!” Monica burst into Cor’s office, looking frantic. “We just got word that Prompto Argentum was kidnapped by a giant cat!”

“What?!” Cor said, heart jumping to his throat.

He was the one responsible for bring Prompto back to Insomnia and had been keeping a quiet eye on him since. What did Monica mean Prompto had been kidnapped by a giant cat? A cat? Really? Monica wasn’t the type to play a prank either.

The door slammed open again and this time Dustin came in. “A giant cat is headed straight here, in the direction of the training grounds. It has got something on its back!”

Cor blanched. “Noctis and Ignis are at the training grounds today.”

Regis mentioned something about magic casting today. He rushed out of the office, Monica and Dustin hot on his heels.

-.-.-

“Okay kiddo, today you’re going to learn magic.”

Gladio scowled at Zack. “I can’t use magic!”

Zack clapped his hands and gave Gladio a wide grin. “Hence why you’re going to learn. C’mon now. Aerith is waiting.”

“You’ve been teaching me for a year and I still don’t know who Aerith is,” Gladio complained. On he had asked. Namely, when he had stopped to think about it, the fact that Zack was transparent and glowing. Zack just grinned and danced around the issue.

“Questions later. Just go head next door,” Zack said, ruffling his hair.

Gladio grumbled but complied.

-.-.-

That was the craziest, fastest and best ride of Prompto’s life. Before he knew it, Nanaki was landing in an open training ground in the Citadel.

“Whoa,” Prompto said, looking around the wide grounds.

“Here we are,” Nanaki said.

Prompto slid off of Nanaki’s back and then got promptly soaked with water.

“Hey!” Prompto protested. Who was soaking him with water?

“Noct! You can’t just keep soaking people.”

“But Iggy! He felt funny!”

Prompto blinked to see two other boys. The smaller of the two, with black hair and blue eyes came running up to Nanaki.

“Nanaki! Who is this?”

“This is Prompto,” Nanaki said, urging Prompto to step forward. “Prompto, this in Noctis. Ignis is the one with the glasses.”

“Noctis, Prince Noctis?” Prompto asked. He was meeting the Prince?!

“That’s me,” Noctis said. “You can just call me Noct though.”

“Aerith said he should join your magic lessons,” Nanaki said.

“Is that a giant cat?”

The three of them turned to see another kid standing in the door.

Nanaki sighed. “You must be Gladiolus.”

“Uncle Clarus’ son!” Noctis said.

“Are you joining us for magic lessons too?” Ignis asked.

  
Gladio scowled. “I don’t have magic!”

“I don’t either,” Prompto admitted. He shivered slightly.

A warm wind blew, drying him off. Prompto marveled as he was dried off.

“There we go. Can’t have you getting sick.”

Prompto looked up to see a woman with brown hair and green eyes. Like Nanaki, she was faintly transparent and glowing. “Who?”

“I’m Aerith,” she smiled at him. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“You’re Aerith! Zack won’t shut up about you,” Gladio said.

Aerith grinned mischievously. “Is that so?”

“C’mon kid! Don’t embarrass me like that.”

Prompto blinked as a tall man with black spikey hair appeared next to Gladio. Huh. He was meeting a lot of new people today. Why though?

“Ah, Zack is the one teaching Gladio,” Ignis said.

“There are two more children than I was expecting.”

“Dad!” Noctis said, beaming.

Prompto let out an ‘eep’ sound. The King?! He was going to meet the King too?

King Regis gave Aerith an amused look. “Is there a reason why the class size doubled?”

“Oh, I figured now is as good as any to get them started on magic training. And why spread out the lesson when we could teach them all at the same time,” Aerith said. “The basics are the basics!”

You know, Prompto still hadn’t gotten an answer why they seem to think he could do magic. Or why Noctis thought he felt funny. Or even why Nanaki, Aerith and Zack were transparent and glowing. Unless that was also magic?

The door burst opened, and three adults rushed in. Prompto blinked, recognizing the person leading the group. “Ah! You’re the mister who gave me a birthday gift last year!”

It was the matching black chocobo plushie to the yellow one he had forever.

Noctis looked at him surprised. “You know Uncle Cor?”

Prompto felt a spike of panic. “He’s your uncle?!” How many nobles was Prompto going to meet today and why was the Prince’s uncle gifting him a birthday gift?!

“I know your parents,” Cor blurted out.

Oh. Okay then. Prompto’s parents probably asked him to check in on Prompto. It had been a couple months since they had been home.

“Enough.”

One final voice joined the group. Prompto looked to see a blond haired man and piercing blue eyes materialized.

“Don’t be so grumpy, Cloud,” Zack said. “You’re the best black mage amount us.”

Cloud rolled his eyes, letting loose an exasperated but fond huff.

“C’mon kids. Let me teach you the destructive ways of being a black mage,” Cloud said.

“Please start with something that won’t destroy the training room,” King Regis said.

“Barriers then.”

-.-.-

“You appear to be struggling with close combat.”

Prompto squeaked.

It had been three months since he met Noctis, Ignis, and Gladio and started training. It was kinda weird still. Prompto didn’t know what they saw in him or why they thought he would be good at anything. But magic training so spread physical training too and well, it wasn’t like Prompto had anything else to do. Normally he would just go home and watch tv after school was done.

This was kinda cool and it was like having friends. He guessed? Noctis, Ignis and Gladio counted as friends, right?

But Prompto was a mess of coordination and all the physical weapon training they had been trying to teach him was turning out to be a bad fit.

“Hi Vincent!” Noctis called out from across the room where he and Ignis were practicing their dagger throwing. “You okay Prompto?”

Prompto nodded quickly, turning his attention back to Vincent. He mentally whimpered. Vincent was imposing, clad in crimson red.

Vincent merely kneeled down and pressed a small slingshot into Prompto’s hand. “Try this,” he instructed, leading Prompto over to the where Noctis and Ignis was, the paper targets that lined up.

Prompto gave him a hesitant look. Vincent merely gestured to the target.

“Try,” Vincent said.

Prompto pulled back the sling shot and then let loose. The metal ball blew, hitting the paper target straight in the chest.

Oh! This was easier.

“Good job, Prompto,” Ignis said.

“On your first try!” Noctis said.

Prompto looked up at Vincent. “How did you know?”

Vincent gave him a faint smile. “When you’re older, I’ll teach you how to use guns.”

-.-.-

“Do I want to know how training rooms have been destroyed?” Regis asked.

Clarus sighed. “Far too many.”

They shared a tired look.

“They’re going to be complete terror houses when they grow up,” Regis remarked.

“I pity their future enemies,” Clarus agreed.

-.-.-

“Shortstack, I won’t have you looking like this.”

Ignis glanced down at his respectable button up vest and long sleeve collar shirt. “What’s wrong with it?”

Yuffie groaned. “You’re too stuffy looking! You look like Rufus and when you look like Rufus that mean you’re way too strung up. I told you, Iggy Wiggy, you gotta loosen up.”

Ignis scrunched his face. “But I like looking like this, Yuffie.”

Yuffie shook her head. “This calls for drastic measures.”

-.-.-

Renatus broke into Regis’ office, barely stopping to give Regis a greeting before he broke open a bottle of Regis best scotch.

When Regis merely raised an eyebrow at this behavior, all Renatus had to say, “Ignis came home covered in glitter, and his hair dyed a bright neon blue. Oh he was grinning and mentioned something about paint bombs.”

“Ah,” Regis said. “I’m going to find the throne room covered in paint tomorrow, aren’t I?”

“That or Noctis,” Renatus said.

-.-.-

“Alright kids, today you’re going to learn how to fight unarmed,” Tifa said, tossing her hair over her shoulder.

“Aren’t weapons better?” Gladio asked.

Tifa threw a punch at a training dummy, her fist stopped just before it came to contact with it the dummy’s head. It exploded into splinters of wood.

“Whoa,” Prompto said.

Tifa grinned. “Imagine doing that to mountains.”

-.-.-

“Polearms?”

Ignis looked up to see Cid looking at him. “Yes. I like my daggers, but something with more range seemed like a good idea.”

Cid nodded. “Okay,” he said with a grin. “Let me teach how you fucking fly.”

-.-.-

“Listen up! First step to making a bomb-“

“No!” Cor howled. He dashed across the room and tossed Noctis and Ignis at Monica, Gladio and Prompto at Dustin. Both of them took off, leaving the room as Cor turned to their teacher.

“Barret Wallace,” Cor growled. “Noctis is barely eight! They do not need to know how to build bombs!”

Barret crossed his arms. “You never know when it could come in handy.”

Cor twitched. “No teaching them bomb making. Find something else to teach them!”

-.-.-

Noctis was regretting asking his dad if they could have gone out to collect fireflies. Never had he thought he would be surrounded by fire. He pressed his hands over Miss Miranda’s wound, the glow from the cure materia he always carried trying to keep her alive. Great Gospel had healed majority of his and her wounds, but Miss Miranda had lost a lot of blood from this one wound that refused to heal.

Nervously, Noctis looked at the daemon that was rampaging, hoping that it wouldn’t notice that Noctis was still alive.

It wasn’t meant to be.

Swords gleaming, it turned its attention back to Noctis and lunged.

Noctis closed his eyes, bracing for the impact.

It never came.

Opening his eyes, he saw Cloud standing in front of him; his sword defending against the daemon’s swords.

“You okay, Noctis?” Cloud asked, glancing back him.

Noctis nodded, relief filling him. Cloud was here. It was going to be okay.

“Good,” Cloud said, turning his attention back. He glowed even brighter. “I’ll make this quick.”

His sword split into pieces and Cloud became a blur of gold. In a flash, the daemon fell, sliced to pieces.

Cloud landed with a soft thump, his swords falling to the ground around him. He quickly gathered them, reassembling them back together.

He crouched near Noctis, opening his arms.

Noctis threw himself into Cloud’s arms, the tears he had been holding back, finally breaking loose.

“I got you,” Cloud said. “You did good Noctis.”

-.-.-

Regis felt his headache grow. So on top of the bad news of Kingsglaive’s loss, Nilfhiem had boldly sent their chancellor to deliver this mockery of a peace treaty.

Chancellor Ardyn Izunia strutted into the throne room as if he own the place. Regis listened, to how he bowed and tried to sell this ‘good will’ to Insomnia.

In the back of his mind, Regis could acknowledge it was a good deal. This war had gone on for so long. Tenebrae and Lucis were barely clinging. Syvla sounded more and more exhausted in every letter they managed to pass along between her messengers. The distance between their two countries made an alliance difficult. And Tenebrae was pinned on both sides, Accordo the reluctant ally of the Empire was also being used a fighting ground.

But he refused to given in.

Before Regis could do anything though, Noctis came barreling into the throne room.

And Regis felt his heart skip a beat. At twenty years old, Noctis had grown up in a fine young man, but every now and then, he would do things like this that would like this just to give Regis a heart attack.

“Ah Prince Noctis,” Ardyn said.

Noctis smiled and Regis feared.

(It wasn’t that Noctis didn’t know proper protocol. Regis made sure he had learned it. But there was mischief side that fostered by both Aerith and Yuffie that would always come out to play when Regis least expected it.)

“So nice of you to join us,” Ardyn said. “Why don’t-“

He didn’t get a chance to finish before he was soaked with water. Unlike other times, it wasn’t just a bucket full, but an entire waterfall.

“Noctis?” Regis asked once the five minute mark passed and the water hadn’t let up. The room was flooded with enough water that it reached up to Noctis’ knees.

“He needs a really good long soak,” Noctis said.

The water let up. Ardyn coughed and hacked, gasping for air.

“Are you feeling better?” Noctis asked.

“This water…” Ardyn said, staring at him with wide eyes. “How?”

“Aerith says hi,” Noctis said. “Hey dad, this is our immortal uncle!”

Regis felt his headache pulse. “Ardyn Izunia… Ardyn Lucis Caelum. Of course.”

“You know Aerith?” Ardyn asked, still lost sounding and confused.

“Oh! You remember her. She said it was always a good sign when you remember her,” Noctis said. He peered at Ardyn. “Still feels like you still got a lot of Jenova in you. Maybe you should soak in Great Gospel for an hour or two.”

He pulled Ardyn along. Ardyn didn’t put up a fight, following after Noctis like a puppy.

“I’ll straight out our uncle, dad!” Noctis called.

“You do that, son.”

Regis sighed. Well then, how could he spin the fact that they had the Chancellor in their custody?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun and Chaos! Look at all the dangerous things the kids got to learn. :D Haha. That's a wrap. Could have done more but meh, that was most of the scenes I had. Lol
> 
> Please leave a review on your way out.

**Author's Note:**

> Look, the parallels lined up just a little too well to pass up on this. *cackles* There's just so much to explore. I will try to keep it somewhat chronological, but no promises because it's a lot of little scenes everywhere. 
> 
> Please leave a review on your way out


End file.
